parenting

I’ve always wanted four children. I’m not sure why. What is really giving me pause is the fact that my second child, Giovanni, 8, is special needs. It’s difficult and expensive. We have no idea how his life is going to be and how best to help him. Add to that my “extra needs” first child Philip, 12, whose food allergies guaranteed his first few years of life were as terrifying as possible. And still I want another child.

This morning my son woke up laughing. My son woke up laughing and I woke up crying. My son woke up laughing and his little squeaky voice was a light in the darkness to me. I went into his room and moved towards his crib and he smiled at me. And I was so grateful, grateful for him and who he is, but also grateful that he is still a baby and I do not have to explain what happened last night.

In theory, the concept of a new mom not being able to answer your phone calls and/or texts right away should be self-explanatory...

I feel like if I’d started earlier, had my first kid at 28 instead of 34, maybe I’d be a little less tired right now. Maybe I’d be a more fun mom if my knees didn’t sound like small arms fire every time I tried to run with my son. Maybe I’d be a better mom if I was younger. But I don’t think so. My kids? They’re awesome. And I’m the mom they have, so I must be doing something right, old or not.

Life looks a lot different at 40 than it did at 25, and I have a whole new list of things to worry about. It's a very long list, and it makes me anxious on the best day, plain terrified on the worst day, and on a run-of-the-mill day, it just keeps reminding me that I'm clueless about what to think and what to do and how to be grown.

We need to rethink government and politics, and perhaps the best way to do it is to visualize it the way we would explain it to our kids.

While it is important to me to teach my children why I vote and have the political leanings I do, it is equally important to me that my children are critical thinkers who can decide their own political leanings when they are adults.

We need to rethink government and politics, and perhaps the best way to do it is to visualize it the way we would explain it to our kids.